Page 67 of One Step Sideways

I turned to Diesel. “What happened?”

“Do you remember up to O’Connell supposedly leading you out?”

I nodded, then scowled. “The rat-ass—”

“Is dead,” Diesel confirmed. “Kane did his time-stop thing—”

“He doesn’t stop time,” I objected. “He just makes people unaware of the passing of it.”

Diesel shrugged likewhatever. “Point is, it gave him enough time to get you, Cherry, Mark, and Blaze to the van before he lost control. Unfortunately,or maybe not, because all the cops had probably already depressed their triggers, you not being there didn’t stop them from shooting.” He paused. “A hundred bullets made a hell of a mess of the only target still standing.”

“Like I care,” I grumbled. “Kane gave him a chance, despite everything, and he tried to sell us out.” I looked up. “Where’s the enhanced?”

He smiled. “Oliver Michaels went to town. He’s even got Samuel into a special detention facility supervised by the team in Florida. Samuel stayed in the cell with Callum while everything went down. He was the only one they couldn’t get out. He still killed his parents, but Oliver has all sorts of appeals in the works and is quietly confident he can get him out with the list of abuse he suffered. To be honest, I think they’ll roll over after Oliver has finished suing their asses. Callum is in secure housing with his mom, and someone wants to try to make him a protective suit.”

“Like Bo’s gloves?” I realized. “I bet Eli is helping.”

Bo was an enhanced child that killed anything he touched with electricity until Eli, an enhanced FBI agent with similar powers, had been able to touch him. He was now living his best life. They both were.

“Callum’s mom is spending a lot of time with Bo’s mom because she’s been through pretty much the same thing, and the team is thinking of helping them move to a bigger house so each family has their own space, but they’re all together.”

I had to stay silent after that, waiting till the lump in my throat went down. “The kid on the stretcher?”

“Shae.” Diesel said. “The bastards had him on the high-powered treadmill for six hours at top speed until the kid’s heart gave out, and he had severe burns on his chest and side because they couldn’t turn it off in time when he collapsed. I don’t doubt they would have tried again as well. Ringo ran out with him because his heart was all over the place, and he was afraid he’d go into cardiac arrest again. But all the main suspects are dead. Connaught, O’Connell, even Saunders, if he was involved. Other prisoners have told us that Saunders andO’Connell spent a long time together, so we think the riot was a coincidence. Kane thinks it was, and I agree. Too much spent on the unit to waste it like that.” He paused. “Unless the collective talents of those they could take were worth it.” Diesel didn’t make it a question, and I was glad.

“What about the officer that Kane thought he recognized, with the tattoo?”

Diesel frowned. “He didn’t mention that to me, but he was a little preoccupied.” Diesel smirked. “And we still have the missing enhanced to find from before, and we don’t know who was behind this, but this makes it much harder. They had a sweet deal that the riot blew apart. Oliver’s using the conspiracy theory as blackmail material with the authorities, as well.” He lowered his voice. “Oliver wants to take Kane’s case on. He thinks he should be pardoned, but don’t tell him in case it doesn’t work out.”

I knew—somehow—that Kane was awake and listening and didn’t choose to let Diesel know. And I let that knowledge wash over me. For the first time in years, I’d hidden something from him, even if that was a minor something. I would have given my life for Diesel and knew he felt the same. And it wasn’t that I didn’t still feel intense loyalty and gratitude, but now there was a new focus. Not transferred loyalties exactly, but something much deeper than that.

Love.Such a pathetic word for something that made my heart keep beating. And I suddenly realized that amongst everything I’d never told Kane how important he was to me, never spelled it out. And I had to because I loved every single bit of him with every single piece of me.

I realized Diesel had fallen silent, and he tried and failed to hide a smile, seemed to nod to himself as if answering some unspoken question, then carried on as if my world hadn’t shifted on its axis. “All the other C.O.s that survived said they did as they were told, even the ones conducting the ‘experiments’ on Shae, which were all designed to test his speed to the point of exhaustion. They clammed up and the union’s involved, but from what you said, if Kane can identify one, we might find out the purpose of the riot. The only C.O. still missing is Kerrigan, along with the deputy warden for the regular side, Amos Smith. We can’t find any links. He’s just missing. Nothing on Kerrigan either.”

One of the nurses came in and Diesel stepped back, promised he would bring Sadie, and told me to call him when Kane was awake. He grinned. “Oh, and nice job getting the bullet out, but you missed one.” I gaped. I’d missed Saunders had fired more than once, completely missed it. “What, you think you’d have been in here nearly two days if you hadn’t?”

I rolled my eyes. Figured. Then I yawned as he continued. “And your mom and dad are in the cafeteria. You probably don’t remember since they gave you the good drugs, but you’ve woken up twice.” He nodded at Kane, who still hadn’t moved but was definitely faking sleep. “That’s thanks to your dad insisting to the doctors that he should be here. You don’t have him as next-of-kin yet, so I’d get right on that.”

And with that parting shot, he turned and left. The nurse fussed for another moment, then said the doctor would be in shortly and helped me get some water. Then she left as well.

“You’re not gonna win any Oscars, you know.” I smiled as Kane’s eyes shot open and I stared into all that beautiful stormy gray.

His breath hitched. “Don’t ever do that again.”

I studied him. Then winced as I tried to move a little. His eyes widened. “I’ll get the nurse. They said you didn’t need as much pain meds this morning. Let me—”

“Don’t you dare move,” I whispered and lifted my hand to his face, tracing his full lips, his scruff that didn’t cover his scar and made him look like a fifteen-year-old trying to grow a beard.Adorable.He caught my hand and pressed a kiss to my palm.

“I mean it,” he said. “Don’t ever.”

“Get shot?” But I knew what he meant.

“All of it.”

I smiled. “I’ll try, but it’s hard to keep out of trouble on my own. Sadie’s getting on a bit, you know. Maybe she needs a little backup? You know, like a personal bodyguard? That sort of thing.”

His own smile was slow in coming, but worth every second. “Yeah? And what qualifications would this personal bodyguard need?” He cradled my hand to his chest. “In case I know anyone that might apply.”

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